2013 was the comeback year. After six long years of sluggish sales, plummeting prices, failed tax incentives and a flood of foreclosures, the housing market at long last had rebounded.

2014 was a hangover year. But by 2015, the housing market was back for good, the Great Recession a distant, bitter memory. Bidding wars abounded. Buyers competed with investors paying cash. Purchase offers started piling up days after a home hit the market.

2018 was a transition year. It started out strong, but by year’s end, sales petered out and price appreciation had downshifted. Now it’s 2019’s turn.

Will a 6 ½-year streak of year-over-year price gains continue? Or will home prices go down? Will it be a buyer’s market? Or will sellers continue to have the upper hand? And will there be another recession? In short, did renters miss their chance to buy a home?

The verdict, say market watchers and numerous local forecasts, is 2019 won’t be a memorable year for housing. Signs point to a sluggish year. Real estate agents report some of their clients have decided to wait it out. Home prices are due to go back down, those buyers say. Some economists agree. But most forecasts say homes prices will rise in 2019, but those gains will be smaller than in years past.

All markets are local, and in determining where the market is one needs to, in some cases, go block by block or neighborhood by neighborhood.National statistics surely do not relate to California, the Bay Area or even individual cities.

I would encourage anyone to get advice from their favorite or local Realtor. I am constantly reviewing the market on a weekly and sometimes daily basis. This is the only way to be current and up to date.

People will always be buying and selling regardless of the economy or interest rates. As we continue along in 2019, keep this in mind: prices are favorable for sellers and interest rates are projected to rise — don’t wait!

We are, once again, experiencing one of the greatest housing booms in United States history. How long this will last and where it is heading next are impossible to know now. But it is time to take notice: this is the United States’ third biggest housing boom in the modern era.

Since February 2012, when the price declines associated with the last financial crisis ended, prices for existing homes in the United States have been rising steadily and enormously.

According to the S&P/CoreLogic/Case-Shiller National Home Price Index (which Schiller helped create), as of September, the prices were 53% higher than they were at the bottom of the market in 2012.

That means, on average, a house that sold for, say, $200,000 in 2012 would bring over $300,000 in September 2018. Even after factoring in Consumer Price Index inflation, real existing home prices were up almost 40 percent during that period. That is a substantial increase in less than seven years.

According to Redfin, In the four weeks ending on September 23, homes that sold above asking price dipped below 2016 levels.

Their reporting stated only 22.9% of homes sold for more than asking price, declining from 25.5% of homes the same time last year. Notably, the share of homes that sold above asking price has been steadily decreasing from June, when it was at 29%.

Obviously this is a report based on a nationwide survey, as this is not the case in the Silicon Valley. The stats show 102.2% of list price with 26 days on the market in Santa Clara County. True this is down from earlier in the year. Santa Cruz County did decline to 99.2% of list price with 50 days on the market.

Things are definitely changing and everyone has their own idea of what to think of it. Just ask any of the agents in my office. Some sellers are cancelling, saying they will wait. Others are refusing to lower their price and still others look at comps from earlier in the year and believe they can get the same prices or higher. Different market, Different time unfortunately.

Then of course there is this: The Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) met last week and, as expected, voted to raise the benchmark interest rate for the third time this year.

According to RealtyTrac and realtor.com®, October is the best time to snag a deal on a house.

RealtyTrac analyzed more than 32 million sales of single-family homes and condos between 2000 and 2015, finding that those who purchased in October paid 2.6 percent below the average estimated full market value for their property.

Here are five reasons to buy now:

Less focus on landscaping

The market pressure has lessened.

Agents may have more time now

Better deals

Fewer bidding wars in some areas

If you are looking to buy or sell, make sure you align yourself with a professional Realtor who follows the code of ethics and has your best interest at heart.

Earlier this year, the California Association of Realtors (C.A.R.) began the historic effort to address California’s unprecedented housing supply crisis as well as to increase homeownership opportunities for Californians by gathering nearly 1 million signatures—enough to qualify the Property Tax Fairness Initiative for the General Election Ballot.

The initiative would eliminate the “moving penalty” for seniors 55 and older, the disabled, and victims of natural disasters, allowing them to carry their current Proposition 13-protected property tax assessment level to another home of any price, anywhere in the state, any number of times.

The November 2020 ballot initiative will move portability forward while at the same time generating revenue for schools and local governments by: 1) requiring reassessment in connection with inter-generational transfers where heirs keep property for investment purposes; and 2) tightening up the reassessment law to address corporate property transfers where “creative” efforts are used to avoid reassessment.

Big 3 Factors Driving Housing Demand

As if California isn’t fascinating enough to us all, the housing market here is the talk of the real estate world as well.

Along with becoming the 6th largest economy, California’s housing market has been the best performing of any and that’s music to the ears of investors. California has less owners with negative equity and fewer delinquent mortgages.

For the first time in 11 years, the statewide median home price in California surpassed its previous peak and rose to $600,860, which was recorded more than 10 years ago during the last housing boom. The median home value in the United States is $216,000.

76% of the highest priced real estate markets in the USA are in California.

Keep an eye on these key projected figures. Governments will have to raise mortgage rates, reduce tax benefits, and stiffen mortgage qualification rules to discourage buyers.